Benefits:􀁺 Reduce the risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) and atherosclerosis. If everyone walked for 30 minutes daily at 3-4 mph it would decrease the number of CVD deaths per year by 30% (284,886 deaths/year).􀁺 Reduce the risk of Diabetes (Type 2) by 58% in persons at high risk.􀁺 Reduce risk of Stroke by 24% walking 2.5 hours per week as compared to non-exercisers. Further reduced the risk of Stroke by 46% walking 5 hours per week as compared to non-exercisers.􀁺 Reduce risk of breast cancer by 20% in White and African-American women who regularly exercise for 7-15 MET/week/year compared to inactive females.􀁺 Reduced risk of mortality with patients who have been diagnosed with breast cancer by 25% compared to sedentary individuals. Further reduced risk by 50% if walked 3-8 hours per week.􀁺 Reduce resting blood pressure.􀁺 Reduce the risk of Pancreatic Cancer among overweight individuals with a BMI of 25kg/m2 or greater.􀁺 Reduce risk of Osteoporosis.􀁺 Reduce risk of Cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal) in women by 31%.􀁺 Reduced risk of depression among elderly adults. In elderly adults classified with major depressive disorder, a 50% reduction of the disorder occurred after 4 months of an exercise program.􀁺 Improved overall aerobic fitness and functional capacity.􀁺 Daily walking of 30 minutes for 12 weeks has been shown to lower overall body weight and decrease percent body fat.􀁺 If we just walked briskly 30 minutes each day, healthcare as we know it would radically change in this country.

Note:​􀁘 Currently, up to 2/3 of men and 3/4 of women in the UK do not achieve this level of activity.􀁘 In the United States 32% of Non-Hispanic Blacks, 22% of Mexican-Americans, and 18% of Whites are considered to have a low fitness level.